Madeira Beach meeting tonight

[Marcus]

Address? Time?

Who's going?

Anyone want to meet up for a beer prior? After? Where?

[Chapik]

Hey, Marcus. I'm on vacation at Gulf resort. Looking to get wet. Give me a call on my cell(201)290-6573

[riski]

here's the info,i'll be there and i believe the owner of ocean spots will be with me?
:thumps:

March 22, 2007

City of Madeira Beach Municipal Bldg.

300 Municipal Drive

Madeira Beach, Florida

727-391-9951

[Nsearch]

Marcus, I'm leaving Lakeland at 3:30 to get into town early to run an errand before the meeting and beat traffic. I'm thirsty :toast: :D

[Marcus]

Hooters?

10400 Roosevelt Blvd N, St. Petersburg?

2901 Tyrone Blvd N, St Petersburg, FL?

The one at Tyrone is real close to the meeting.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-24,GGLG:en&q=hooters+St%2e+Petersburg%2c+Fl

[Marcus]

Meeting is at 7pm.

[jerry1000]

i will be there with nailman...c u guys there

[Marcus]

Me and Nsearchoffish (Bryan) are meeting at the Hooters across from Tyrone Square Mall at 5:30 if anyone wants to join us.

I'll be the cool looking guy with the beige fishing shirt and dark jean shorts. Bryan will be the goofy looking guy with the humongous cranium. :D

[bgbill]

My wife and I will be there, along with my youngest daughter.

[8h8h]

For those of you that are going, it may pay to take a minute to read this webpage:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-3777.pdf

It is a brief description of the purpose of the meeting. This meeting isn't about getting rid of longliners, it is about how limits for four different species (gags, reds, AJs and gray triggers) are set and what changes may need to be made in the future.

I also would like to add this quote from Chum Bucket's post about the Naples meeting regarding speaking at these meetings:

" Be very prepared. I hate to say it but most of the rec guys just sounded un-informed to any of the real topics. If I was on the Gulf Council I would have been pulling my hair out at some of the ridiculous comments and questions. They aren't stupid, just misguided with flawed data, so I'm sure they hate to have their time wasted just like you and I. When you don't know what your talking about, it shows quickly.

Third: And closely related to the above point, MAKE NOTES BEFORE YOU SPEAK. This will keep you on topic and help you make a clear, valid point. I knew what I wanted to say so I didn't write anything down. Big mistake, All of the completely perfect arguements you create in your head each night before bed come rushing out at once, and can easily lead to non-sensical rantings. Next time I will choose the most important topic for me, and put it in writing. A simple, well prepared, one minute, well spoken point will be taken much more seriously than 3 minutes of mis-guided wandering"


Some highlights that I think should be brought out are:

1) Complete lack of any accurate recreational landings. How can they say we're landing too many fish when their data is complete junk.

2) We really don't want to kill every fish in the ocean. We want a sustainable fishery as much as they do. But it's hard to agree with stricter limits when we don't see reduced populations in the ocean.

3) The recreational sector has always responded best to limitations in bag limits and size restrictions. In my opinion seasonal closure are unfair due to the seasonality of our fishery and are of questionable value in reducing total catch. I also don't feel there is a great value in area closures unless they are so geographically large as to be damaging to local economies. Size and bag limits have worked well in the past, let's continue to use them.

Hope to see you all there if I can clear my schedule.

[ROCK BOTTOM]

Also, please don't brag about how you don't care what the minimum size limit is because you "only hunt the big ones." This will be taken as "recreationals only target the breed stock."

And, don't make exaggerated claims about how many fish you have to kill just to get your limits. That will be read as "recreationals really do have unacceptably high release mortality."

We want to maximize our image as good stewards of the environment while minimizing the recreationals by-catch mortality. Be polite, be prepared and stay on topic. Once your points are made concerning the actual purpose of the meeting, then make a short polite statement against the longliners, etc.

Have a smart friend proof read any letters that you write. Don't try to quantify things that you have no hard data on (i.e. we have to catch and kill nine grouper just to reach a four fish limit) Just say that "more fish are imperilled during the initial period when the size limit is raised" as an arguement against raising minimum size increases.

Minimize the use of the word "kill" when describing recreational fishing and use it every chance you get when describing the commercials.